Forest, Food and Frivolity

Sunday, 27 November 2016

There seems to be something about restaurants in unconventional locations. Restaurant Sat Bains - amazing. Where is it? Under pylons by an industrial estate. The Man Behind The Curtain - groundbreaking. How do you get there? By walking through one of Leeds' higher-end clothes shops. So to Restaurant Story, which looks nothing so much like a glass-fronted log cabin sitting in a junction between two busy London roads. But the location is largely irrelevant if the food is good. And it is. Very.

Our evening starts with a welcome move to a slightly warmer table after being allocated one near to the entrance, then an explanation of the paired drinks option from the excellent sommelier. In the end we decided against this and went for a bottle of lovely South African red (again on the sommelier's recommendation) before the eating began.

The menu is presented in the form of chapters, starting with Childhood, through Sea and Land before The End. Ahead of all this though are the snacks. And what snacks! I counted six different one-or-two-bite morsels, including a fabulously-fishy crispy cod skin, a dainty slab of polenta-coated rabbit and a 'Storeo:' a squid ink biscuit with a fish mousse which looked like the popular American biscuit and even retained a bit of their sweetness too.

Rabbit

Another bonus course of a foamy veloute was served up before the first true starter of bread and dripping. Inspired by head chef (and fellow Nottinghamian!) Tom Sellers' love of dipping his bread in beef fat from his Sunday roast, this starter was chunks of sourdough bread which one dipped in the aforementioned dripping. The dripping however took the form of an edible candle, which was duly lit and sent forth it's mildly-meaty aroma. The two accompanying jars of beef extract and a chutney added an extra-beefy hit and a welcome touch of sharpness respectively.

The second starter was gin and onion and comprised crunchy onion and an onion marmalade sitting in a bowl of Bermondsey gin-infused consomme. The onions brought to mind the smell of hotdog vans (this is a good thing) while the gin packed a real punch, with the overall effect being rather wonderful.

Gin and onion

Childhood done, we were on to the Sea. The icy, champagne foam of 'razor clam' was a little bizarre, but the sliced scallop sashimi was much better. The star of this chapter however was 'foraged ramen.' A warm, tasty broth containing cep mushrooms and served with a plate full of various mini pickles.

Ramen

An optional extra course of 'risotto' was available, which we chose to share. I'm glad we did, as it was delicious, but also incredibly indulgent. Instead of rice, finally chopped celeriac formed the basis of this dish and it was covered by a velvety sauce and some shavings of white truffle. At some point (by now I was losing track) another unmentioned dish appeared, this time an orange-crusted brioche with some foie gras butter.

The main courses of Land were up next, kicking off with 'potato and coal:' silky-smooth mashed potato topped with various crunchy vegetable discs and dressed with a charcoal oil. 'Venison' was to follow, including a strip of pink loin meat, some crunchy shoulder and a belting meatball of offal. This was all held together by a bilberry sauce. Or was it blackberry? As we'd now finished our bottle of wine and were on to another carafe, I forget some of the finer details.

Our final surprise dish (a palate-cleansing combo of milk ice-cream and lemon) preceded The End. Three very different desserts starting with rum (or brandy, things were hazy by now) ice-cream coated in candyfloss, rose ice-cream with slices of artichoke and ending with my personal favourite of a dill sorbet accompanying almond ice-cream and some crunchy candied almonds. Phew! We finished the meal off with a really good coffee and petit fours, and waddled off back toward London Bridge.

Almond and dill

What a meal it was too. By the end I think we'd got to nineteen or twenty courses of varying sizes, shapes, textures and tastes - enough to leave us feeling full but not uncomfortably so. Service was excellent throughout. None of the waits between courses were overly long, indeed some of them were welcome relief from the sheer bombardment of food. The whole experience took around three hours from start to finish, so if you visit for dinner then get there early. As mentioned before, the sommelier was excellent and both wines he suggested for us were really good whilst being toward the lower-end of the price range we asked for.

I feel like I've waffled on a bit here and to be honest I have, but it's warranted. This was a food journey of both quantity and quality and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. A meal that will live long in the memory.

Sunday, 2 October 2016

Well, that was an interesting evening. What was meant to be an enjoyable Indian meal still was enjoyable to be honest. The quality of the food was good enough that some rather baffling service didn't detract too much, but it was certainly pretty bizarre.

Our table at The Cinnamon Club - a high-end Indian restaurant in the heart of Westminster - was booked for 19:30 but, even though we were around 15 minutes early, we were allowed to take our seats straight away. We'd already decided to give the tasting menu a whirl so our only choice for the night was which wine to go for. Upon advice from one of the waiters we chose a nice Italian red and settled down in anticipation of a memorable meal.

The main dining room of The Cinnamon Club is a large, open affair with hundreds of books lining the walls; including several works by Dickens and other such eclectic subjects as Norsk Flora. Perusing the covers of these kept us entertained until our amuse bouche of a coriander and yoghurt covered cube of steamed rice appeared. And disappeared just as quickly, having been swiftly devoured.

Next up was a plate of three small appetisers, the highlight of which was some flaky crab on a lotus root crisp, before our first starter proper arrived in the form of a spiced seafood bisque. And it certainly was spiced, packing a real punch, but thankfully not overpowering the background taste of prawn and shrimp. The second starter was another mixed plateful, with the star this time being some okra filled with peanut and jaggery - which our waiter informed us was a type of cane sugar.

Starter Number 2

And so to our two mains, which kicked off with a pair of plump prawns partnered with a cracking mango and coriander sauce. This was probably my favourite dish of the whole meal. The second main was a Tandoori grouse breast, served up with some minced grouse leg meat and a dollop of coriander mashed potato. No complaints about this course either, though I'd like to try some unspiced grouse sometime now, as the Tandoori flavour was again pretty strong.

Grouse

Each of our savoury courses were definitely tasty, with enough spicing to make sure we knew we were eating Indian food, but never too much so as to totally overpower the core ingredients. After enjoying proceedings so far we looked forward to our dessert, and this is where things started to go awry.

We had a long wait for our dessert. Too long. Just short of asking "where's our dessert?" long in fact. When it did finally arrive it was thankfully as tasty as the rest of the meal had been; taking the form of some chocolate fudge mousse alongside very subtly spiced ice-cream and a strange, squishy, lime-flavoured blob called a rasgolla.

The final part of our tasting menu was coffee and petit fours which we ordered and asked to have served in the quirky downstairs bar. This was when things really got messy. After taking our seats we had another overly-long wait for the coffees, though again they were good enough to be worth it. We followed these up with a cocktail each and, having been kept waiting around before, we asked for our bill at the same time.

When our waiter brought us our cocktails he informed us that it looked like we'd be getting a free meal, as our bill was meant to have been left on our table at the bar, but it hadn't been. He was worried about getting into trouble for the missing bill but as far as we were concerned it wasn't his fault. So after downing our cocktails we went back upstairs, retrieved the coat we'd stored in the cloakroom and left. Walked out. Unchallenged. Without paying a penny. Wow.

Honesty (and maybe a touch of guilt) took over however so we returned. The restaurant had my details from the booking and I didn't really want to risk getting into any trouble for not paying our bill, though after the shambles that had occurred I wasn't convinced they'd do anything about it. We explained what had happened and our bill was duly produced, though we refused to pay the service charge after they'd messed things up so much. I'll be honest - I was a little disappointed that they didn't see fit to knock a bit more off the bill as a gesture of goodwill. After all, we could easily have kept on walking and got the whole meal for free.

I'd eat at The Cinnamon Club again as the food was great, the ambience was pleasant and it was reasonable value for money. However, they really need to sort out the issues with their service. Moving us from dining area to bar should've been seamless and straightforward, but it ended up being anything but. When you eat at a place like this you expect to have nigh-on flawless service - it's one of the things you pay for. But I reckon we could've got away without paying at all and they'd have never noticed. We were honest enough to go back and pay, but I'm sure that many others wouldn't have.

Saturday, 6 August 2016

I have a confession to make. I didn't renew my season ticket this year (#notarealfan). There are a number of reasons for this: I won't be able to make as many matches, the off-the-field apathy and mismanagement and the on-the-field stagnation amongst them. After watching Forest breeze sweep stagger drunkenly past Burton Albion today, part of me wishes I had renewed. Another part - the one which is concerned about the well-being of my heart - is glad I didn't. I don't think it could take many matches like this one, and I have a feeling there might be a few this season.

Philippe Montanier's first competitive Nottingham Forest lineup was so youthful that it'd probably have been asked for ID when buying a pint. Academy graduates Alex Iacovitti and Matty Cash made their debuts, as did equally youthful new recruits Thomas Lam and Hildeberto Pereira. The slightly-more established Jorge Grant and Oliver Burke lined up in midfield alongside the relative veteran Ben Osborn. The more-experienced-but-still-hardly-ancient Britt Assombalonga, Henri Lansbury, Matt Mills and Dorus de Vries completed the starting XI, meaning that new signings Pajtim Kasami, Apostolos Vellios, Stephen Henderson and Damien Perquis all started their Forest careers from the bench.

If Burton Albion were meant to turn up and roll over clearly nobody told them, as they shaded the opening exchanges. A collision between Mills and de Vries gave the returning Chris O'Grady a chance which was scrambled away, before disaster struck when a challenge between de Vries and Brewers' striker Lucas Akins caused the Forest 'keeper to fall awkwardly, and, following a long period of treatment, get stretched off. Henderson would be handed his debut more quickly than anyone could've predicted or wanted.

Five minutes later however Forest shrugged off this setback and netted their first goal of Montanier's reign. A stray ball in the Burton penalty area fell to Grant, whose shot was probably heading wide before Assombalonga popped up at the far post to slide it home. The joy was short lived though as the match was turned on its head in a matter of minutes.

Firstly a Burton corner wasn't properly cleared and the ball found its way to Akins who fired home. Then a suspiciously-offside-looking counterattack ended up at the feet of Lloyd Dyer who steered a shot past the helpless Henderson. Whilst this was exciting stuff it certainly wasn't in the script. Indeed matters could've been worse if O'Grady had any pace, as another Burton break saw him set clear. Luckily he had to cut back inside and his angled shot whizzed wide of Henderson's post.

Parity was restored at the ideal time for Forest - just ahead of the half-time break - when a short corner was taken to Lam. The Finnish defender atoned for a couple of shaky moments by curling in a nice shot which beat Burton goalie Jon McLaughlin at the near post. The teams trooped off all-square while the sun-drenched crowd tried to take it all in.

Swiss international Kasami replaced the slightly anonymous Grant after the break and it wasn't too long before he made a difference. His free kick from just outside the box thudded into the wall before his rebound looped kindly to the waiting Burke. The Scotsman's shot wasn't cleanly hit but it had enough pace to bobble in at the far post with the Burton defence berating the referee's assistant for not giving him offside. Which he probably was. But so was their second goal. So, them's the breaks.

The goal seemed to settle Forest down somewhat, as did Kasami's introduction, and they exercised more control for a period. Burke and Pereira looked dangerous down the right whilst the midfield trio of Cash, Lansbury and Kasami took turns in spraying mostly-accurate long passes around the field. The defence still looked shaky however and it always felt like another goal was needed.

This duly arrived with around fifteen minutes to go when another break down the right found Pereira in space. His cross looped up off a Burton defender and over McLaughlin and may have dropped in anyway before Assombalonga made sure by nodding in at the far post. Two goals from about the same amount of yards.

Hopefully this cushion would allow the Reds to see the game out comfortably but it didn't because they're Forest and that's not how they roll. More slack defending allowed substitute Tom Naylor to plant a fine header past Henderson, who must have been wondering what was going on. A late scramble and a shot which flashed just wide of the post almost gave Burton a late equaliser but the home side just about held out to give Montanier a victory in his first meaningful match in charge.

So, how did this new-look Forest play? It certainly wasn't all roses but there are definitely reasons to be cheerful. Henderson looked a little unsure behind an almost totally new defence. The soothing presence of de Vries was certainly missed and one hopes he isn't out for too long. Watching the replay of the incident he turned his ankle nastily upon landing, but hopefully it's just a sprain rather than anything more sinister.

Iacovitti had a decent debut on the left, though he was guilty of drifting inside a few times. Still, Danny Fox does that too and he's considerably more experienced. His counterpart on the right - Pereira - looked a massive threat going forward. His pace and willingness to run with the ball could be a huge asset, though he too was caught out of position more than once. He did however produce one tremendous block. Someone needs to teach him how to take throw-ins though. Still, he and Burke could cause mayhem down the right. Hopefully his late substitution was due to tiredness rather than any injury.

Mills was his usually muscular self, but Lam - at this early stage - looks a bit lightweight for a Championship centre-half. He won some decent tackles on the floor but was often out-muscled in the air. He does however look excellent on the ball and again was more than willing to bring it out from defence. Perhaps he's more suited to a career in defensive midfield, but it's very early days.

Osborn was busy down the left without being outstanding whilst Lansbury put in a solid performance punctuated with some excellent passes. Cash, in my opinion, outshone Grant in central midfield. He pressed, harried, tackled and passed well, including one phenomenal long-range crossfield ball to Burke.

Burke himself showed just what potential he has. His pace caused problems all afternoon, even though he sometimes lacked an end product. But of course that's only to be expected. If he delivered every time he got the ball he'd have already been snapped up by someone else. His goal was well deserved and I'd have given him man-of-the-match ahead of the sponsor's choice Assombalonga.

How nice it was to have the Forest number nine starting, playing a full match and back in the goals again. Both of his strikes were easy, but they needed someone with a finisher's instinct to be there - which is something we sorely missed last season. I imagine he'll get the night off against Doncaster in midweek but he can reflect on a job well done.

Eric Lichaj replaced Pereira late on and didn't have too much to do, but Pajtim Kasami's first contribution was far more meaningful. He's an imposing figure in the middle but also very mobile. He never stopped moving and always gave an outlet, while his passing was good and one piece of skill left two opponents in his wake. Him, Lansbury and Cash/Vaughan or whoever in midfield has a nice look about it.

There's plenty for Montanier to work on, but there's also a great deal for him to work with. Tuesday night's team should be interesting and I wouldn't be surprised to see many of those who missed out today being given a chance to stake their claims. One thing seems to be sure though, if today is anything to go by: Forest will be very, very entertaining to watch this season, and that's a pretty good place to start.

Tuesday, 19 July 2016

After booking our family holiday to Mallorca, I decided to take a punt and see if there were any Michelin starred restaurants situated on the island. Of the seven that I could find the most easily accessible was Marc Fosh (formerly Simply Fosh) in Palma. Their menu also seemed very reasonably priced for set lunches so I duly booked as soon as our preferred date was available.

Located in a boutique hotel on a quiet side-street of Mallorca's bustling capital, it's unlikely you'd stumble upon Marc Fosh if you didn't know it was there. That's a real shame as you'd be missing out on an absolute treat. Having not been to a Michelin starred restaurant in such warm conditions before we were a little worried that shorts and short-sleeved shirts might not be acceptable attire. They were though, and indeed the whole atmosphere of the restaurant was pleasantly relaxed. We were pleased to be seated in a covered outdoor area, which provided shaded coolness but lots of natural light too.

From the set lunch menu available I chose the gnocchi starter while my companions both went for the chilled tomato soup with bonito - which we didn't realise was marinaded salmon until it was served. They both seemed to enjoy their starters and I certainly enjoyed mine, with the light gnocchi being matched with a rich black olive sauce and some crunchy candied walnuts.

For main I chose the herb-crusted hake, which was again excellent. Meaty, flaky hake with a crunchy herb crust and accompaniments including caviar, apple and fennel. Clare's lamb was wonderfully pink and served with the most stylish looking Greek salad I've ever seen.

My dessert of rich chocolate ganache, sour cherries, sesame puree and bitter lime gel was a lovely finish to the meal, and Clare raved about her peach sorbet and matcha green tea ice-cream.

€25 per person for this set lunch was an absolute steal, and even with a bottle of crisp Chardonnay, still water and service included, the final bill, when converted into Sterling, was just over £110 for three diners, which for food and service of such quality was an absolute steal. Palma is a fantastic city to visit on holiday, and there can't be many better places to eat there than Marc Fosh.

Monday, 20 June 2016

The best laid plans oft go to waste, and so it was during our recent visit to John's House. Not because of anything the restaurant did wrong though - quite the opposite in fact. It was our plan of sampling the reasonably-priced set lunch menu which went awry; laid to waste by the almost-as-reasonably-priced tasting menu. Still, everything happens for a reason, and the reason was clearly so we could enjoy seven courses of top-notch food.

I have a confession to make. Until the UK Michelin stars were announced for 2015 I'd never heard of John's House. But when a restaurant barely 20 miles away from where I live gets awarded one then I need to take notice. Perusal of the website and a subsequent booking took us to the Leicestershire town of Mountsorrel wherein the restaurant is located, within the slightly jarring surroundings of a busy main road and a housing estate. I can't imagine having a Michelin-starred restaurant sitting literally on my doorstep. For my wallet's and stomach's sake it's probably just as well.

After being ushered through to the comfortable lounge area we made our menu and drinks choices. To curtail the spending a little bit we only ordered one drink each; a punchy white wine and a rather splendid lavender and Champagne cocktail. These ordered, we were led upstairs to the dining room, where we took our seats under the watchful gaze of three stern-looking cows. In a painting, obviously. Some crunchy stout-infused bread and a delicious onion roll later and the meal proper commenced.

A snappy spear of asparagus kicked us off, garnished with fragrant herbs, crispy chicken skin and an unctuous quail's egg. Raw scallop was next, matched with a delicious tube of crab meat and crunchy, fresh greens in a wonderful combination of textures and tastes.

Asparagus

Indeed it was such challenging and interesting combinations which really stood out for me during our meal. The flaky cod of the fish course was accompanied by a disk of rich brawn, which was perfect when smeared with a blob of the passion fruit gel which also adorned the plate. Blood pudding of the deepest crimson joined belly pork as the main, but its depth was delightfully tempered by the seared pineapple and subtle pineapple sauce sharing its real estate.

Cod

Dessert number one was possibly the standout dish: invigorating pea sorbet concealing gloopy coconut ice cream and a crunchy chocolate crumb, whilst itself being covered with sprigs of mint and a dark chocolate sauce. The black pepper in the shards of meringue which - with honey cream and yoghurt ice cream made up the second dessert - left a pleasing thrum at the back of the throat which stayed with us until our coffees. Even these had a surprise in store, with one of the petit fours being a smoked fudge which tasted nothing so much like a peaty Islay whisky made squidgy and cubed.

Service and surroundings were pleasant and relaxed and, though the meal cost more than we'd originally intended, it was entirely our own fault and still represented excellent value for money. There's something very pleasing about finding a gem like John's House outside of the big cities and I'm thankful that the Michelin inspectors recognised it too, otherwise we may never have stumbled upon it. I'm certainly glad that we did.

Sunday, 5 June 2016

In Carrington, many years ago, I had my first ever experience of Indian food: a volcanic hot meat followed by an equally unsubtle Chicken Madras. Despite this searing initiation I was hooked. The restaurant where I sampled these delights is no longer there; however, there's a new kid on Carrington's curry block, and it's a cracker.

Occupying the former Natwest Bank premises on the corner of Hucknall and Mansfield Roads, Masala Junction is the new venture of the former owner of city-centre eaterie Mem Saab. Like Mem Saab it's pointed firmly toward the higher-end of the curry market, and also like Mem Saab it does a very good job indeed. This isn't a place where you can just roll up after a night out and, in a fit of drunken bravado, order the hottest thing on the menu. No, this is sophisticated cooking and definitely best enjoyed while in full control of one's faculties.

The interior sets the scene for the rest of the experience, with nary an algae-covered fish tank or oversized elephant vase to be seen. Instead we have nicely designed window blinds with a pattern which matches the menus, and a high, white-painted ceiling. The music is similarly non-clichéed, so much so that I can't even remember what it sounded like. Which is as it should be.

Our party forewent the poppadoms and pickles and opted instead for starters of paneer, cod, scallops and - in my case - duck. I can't speak for the others, but my duck was a delight; perfectly pink with a spiced coating and served with, among other things, tiny pickled cauliflower florets and a coriander puree.

As good as the starter was however, the main was even better. After a lot of deliberation I finally settled on a Murgh Methi, which is one of my all-time favourite curries, and it's fair to say this was the best one of these I've ever had. Firm chicken thighs smothered in thick, deep, smoky sauce. Pilau rice and a crispy, light keema naan complemented the dish perfectly. Clare asked for "something like Tikka Masala but not Tikka Masala" and the restaurant rustled up a sublime Butter Chicken which wasn't even on the menu.

Service was slick throughout, our house wine was an excellent Chenin Blanc and the final bill for four of us was just short of £100.00, which I think represents excellent value for a meal of such quality. It's early days yet but Masala Junction looks like a winner. We'll be going back without a doubt.

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

For all the wonderful food in the world, there's something eternally satisfying about a good steak. Pink, spongy interior with a charred, salty crust; a well cooked steak is a thing of beauty indeed.

Hawksmoor is a London-based steakhouse which certainly cooks a good steak. Only now it's not just London-based - it also has a restaurant in Manchester - and it was to this restaurant that we made our way recently to celebrate Clare's birthday.

We'd been to the Seven Dials Hawksmoor before and the interior of Manchester's version compares favourably. Rather than the cellar-like feel of Seven Dials, Manchester is open and airy with smart and comfortable furniture. But, we weren't here to eat the furniture, so what was the food like?

I'm happy to say it was every bit as good as it's London counterpart. Our medium-rare Porterhouse (half sirloin, half fillet) was maybe a tiny bit less pink than we've had before, but still beautifully soft and retaining the wonderful chargrilled exterior. The half lobster was sweet and succulent. Triple-cooked chips were crispy on the outside and fluffy in the middle. And the greens, mushrooms and Bearnaise sauce rounded the meal out perfectly. Cocktails were impressive too.

As far as steak goes, I'm yet to try a better one than Hawksmoor's. I just wish they'd open up in Nottingham...